Sciflyer
Gig Seeker Pro

Sciflyer

Band Rock Alternative

Calendar

This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

The best kept secret in music

Press


"Magnet Magazine, Feb/Mar '04"

SCIFLYER - Fair Weather Karma

"Shortly after our feature last year on the contemporary shoegaze scene, our in-house attorney obtained an injunction barring the writers from using the term "nugaze" - no doubt to squelch any looming journalistic cliches. (Hey, just try saying "post-rock" aloud now without snickering.) Just the same, if the, er, shoe fits, go ahead and lace that sucker up. California's Sciflyer is dead-square in that context; guitarist/singer Steve Kennedy previously played with Chris Streng of Stratford 4 and Sciflyer has shared bills with MAGNET n*gaze faves S4, Voyager One and the High Violets. Present here are enough per-capita submerged vocals and atmospheric blissouts to keep a Creation Records convention hopping for an entire weekend. The band takes its name from a song on the first Swervedriver album, and 'You're From the Ocean' could pass for a long-lost Swervedriver outtake. Sciflyer is no one-shoe pony however. Former Rain Parade guitarist Matt Piucci helped with the recording, and subtle Rain Parade-y moments can be heard on 'Like An Ion', a marriage of vintage jangle pop and thick dreamy psych. The churning 'Burn & Sell' has a Ramones-meets-Who three-chord wallop that no amount of blurry/woozy guitar effects can dilute. Propulsive and visceral yet unerringly melodic, Sciflyer's debut is a juggernaut ride to the ravedown" - Fred Mills


"Big Takeover, #54 (Spring '04)"

SCIFLYER - Fair Weather Karma

"Sciflyer is upbeat fuzz noise with an energy that could take you dancing or just leave you on the floor, staring at the ceiling. Bliss punk? The songs sound like they would be perfectly sugar-sweet pop if they were played clean, but this band is not about clean. Echoing reverbed vocals drift a little Dean Wareham-like through some of the songs, even though they are speeding unstoppable into a vibrant sunset haze. There's a nice 11-minute Verve-ish track that floats across the middle of the CD, and then it goes into some beautiful and lifting/lilting guitar sparkle that makes me feel like I've just been kissed." - Marcel Feldmar


"Dagger, #33 (Fall 2003)"

SCIFLYER - Fair Weather Karma

"I liked this bands' ep's that preceded this but I remember them being more indie pop and less shoegaze. Nonetheless, most of this is ace. The rhythm section is doing its job and guitarist/vocalist Steve Kennedy stomps on his wah-wah at just the right times to create a swirling, surround-sound effect while his vocals are much lower in the mix. The 6 minutes of 'Come Up to My Cloud' which sifts right into 'Like An Ion' is a beautiful thing. Catch 'em now before they become the Next Big Thing." - Tim Hinely


"Sense, #31 (July/Aug '03)"

SCIFLYER - Fair Weather Karma

"You might remember Sciflyer when they appeared a few months ago on our American Records column; based on their two self-released cds, we had every reason to predict a bright future for them. And so it is: the eclectic Clairecords - a label which could be compared to 4AD, when Cocteau Twins were still on the roster and when Lush and Pale Saints were stealing the indie kids' hearts - released the bands debut full-length. What we could not possibly predict would be the impressive evolution of the band itself, at swallowing the listener into psychedelic journeys, even using the same - practically non-existent - production techniques, like they did on their demos. A professional engineer would probably qualify the sound as bad, but the truth is that nothing could be more suitable to accompany this hypnotic megatrip than these fuzzy layers of guitars and feedback, backed by some warm noise to cover everything and send the listener back to the shoegazers' era, like capturing the atmosphere of the sweetest dream ever. In most cases, the vocals can be hardly heard, making for an additional sonic effect that completes this nonchalant jigsaw - a total interaction with all senses which does not leave room for any logical thoughts. And indeed, no strict logic could explain how this album found its way on the Clairecords catalogue, and yet, the material here is so overwhelming that there's nothing to explain, really. Swervedriver's Adam Franklin is a fan, The Rain Parade's Matt Piucci helps on engineering and this is an album full of haze and illusionary impressions, occasionally bringing in mind Ride and Verve's A Storm In Heaven, Spacemen 3 and early Mercury Rev. Of course, it's plain pointless to trace influences and try to label this as either phychedelic music, post rock or dream pop: Fair Weather Karma is a dream anthology of its own, carrying memories that change all the time, over nostalgic and aesthetically perfect backgrounds." - Tassos Patakos


"Las Vegas CityLife, July '03"

SCIFLYER - Fair Weather Karma

"Championing a dead genre such as shoegazer/dream-pop isn't easy in today's climate of insipid nu-metal hacks, formulaic pop-punk and hollow, fabricated dance-pop with perfect tits and white teeth. Bay Area-based Sciflyer is practically one-of-a-kind now, and has won many fans with its two self-released EPs and intoxicating live shows. I was delighted when singer/guitarist Steve Kennedy told me of the band's forthcoming full-length at a recent show at the Cooler Lounge. The disc is out, and the results are in, with Sciflyer further honing its psychedelic soundscapes.

'Barnstorm' provides a subtle opening to Fair Weather Karma, with smoggy guitar, ramshackle percussion and submerged whisperings before exploding into 'Burn & Sell.' Now the band is on a suicide run straight for your front cortex, all blustery, effects-drenched guitars, throbbing bass and driving drums. The vocals are buried in the mix throughout the disc, acting as another sonic element instead of the main focal point. The idea here is to drown in the sheets of distended psychosis, letting yourself melt into the song. 'You're From the Ocean' wields a much poppier edge similar to Ride, with plangent major chords ringing out.

'Burning Down the House' is not a David Byrne cover, but rather an exercise in expanding the capillaries of psychedelic soul, with lancets of cymbal wash raining down. 'Come Up To My Cloud' further mines the more approachable sound of 'Ocean' and somehow remains catchy without relying on cliched vocal hooks. This is the case for the rest of the disc, as it seems to stick in your head with hooks you can't quite identify. Indeed, this is one of those records where you push play and ride the currents from track to track, never bothering to discern between singles and album fodder. Karma is a bold step for mind-melting psychedelia and a new classic for the old shoegazer movement."
- Aaron Archer


"Reno Gazette Journal, 8/28/03"

SCIFLYER - Fair Weather Karma

"One of the more compelling new bands I’ve heard in a while, Sciflyer — a trio from San Francisco — has released its second CD, 'Fair Weather Karma'. The band’s new wrinkle on Brit-influenced 'shoegazer' rock is to make it actually rock. Highlights like 'You’re From the Ocean' sound like prime Husker Du armed with wah-wah and delay pedals instead of only distortion boxes. They’re also good at the more spacey, expansive guitar rock, like the trancey, 12-minute 'Burning Down the House' or the beautiful midtempo tune 'Letting Go of Everything'. Recorded at guitarist/vocalist Steve Kennedy’s house, his breathy vocals are mixed far too low, but the dynamic, punchy music more than makes up for that."
- Mark Earnest


"Comes With A Smile, Spring '04"

SCIFLYER - Fair Weather Karma

"It never really died, it merely moved away. To some far edge of America, seemingly. It’s all here in fact, in the ten-minute drifting songs, and titles like 'You’re From The Ocean' and 'Come Up To My Cloud'. So, shoegazing appears to have returned, gone pop slightly, and in the hands of Sciflyer, is surviving quite nicely indeed. A trio who include a husband and wife coupling, Sciflyer’s debut album ‘Fair Weather Karma’ has traces of Bardo Pond, Swervedriver, Ride, and even some of the Pixies surfer-rock moments. The strung-out trip of 'Burning Down The House' meanwhile is reminiscent of very early Verve, albeit very early Verve with ghostly whispers for vocals suppressed so far into the mix that they’re scarcely noticeable. Hardly a total resurrection, more a timely kiss of life for the scene that just refused to go away quietly."
- Ian Fletcher


"Punk Planet, #52 (Nov/Dec '02)"

SCIFLYER - Melt EP

"These proud purveyors of 'space rock' call their music 'mid-fi'. It's different, and it works, and it even hits some grooves of deep perfection that make you wanna play the track again. From this promising sample of their work, I'd be curious what they come out with next. They could become the defining space-rock band. The EP finishes with an ambient version of Husker Du's 'Powerline' that was pretty pleasing to the ears of this HD die-hard. Well done."
- Dan Laidman


"Shredding Paper, #13 (Spring '02)"

SCIFLYER - Melt EP

"'Slowfire', the opening track is five minutes long and wouldn't be too long at twice that. If you are patient you'll hear some vocals, although it's mostly a hazy hypnotic mix of beautiful reverbed noise that moves along at a leisurely pace while subversively hooking you like heroin. It reminds me a bit of a DIY My Bloody Valentine. Sciflyer has been good in the past, but 'Slowfire' may be as good a tune as they've done!"
- Mel C.


Discography

Sciflyer - s/t (self released, 6 songs, 2001)
"Melt" EP (self released, 3 songs, 2002)
"Fair Weather Karma" (Clairecords, full-length, 2003)
"The Age of Lovely, Intimate Things" (Clairecords, 5 songs, 2005)

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

Formed in 1999, just after guitarist/singer Steve Kennedy's stint on drums with Chris Streng (of Stratford 4) in the band Estuary, SCIFLYER enters what appears to be a growing shoegazer revival scene....recently dubbed Nu-Gaze by MAGNET Magazine. The band self-released two critcally acclaimed ep's in 2001 and 02 and were eventually picked up by indie label, Clairecords for the release of 2003's "Fair Weather Karma", which made it to #113 on the CMJ Top 200!

Combining the influences of the early 90's shoegazers, like Swervedriver, Ride, Loop, etc with Steve's earlier influences like Husker Du, The Feelies, Rain Parade, etc, SCIFLYER has shown themselves to be, as Magnet's Fred Mills put it, "no one-shoe pony".